Ahhh yes, The Claremont.... the only place I've ever been where a nude, fat waitress came over to do a line off my table....and then was so high she knocked my beer into my lap. Then, she told me she would suck the beer out of my pants. I said "uh, no thanks" and left. (Yes, this really happened). ALWAYS an adventure there! Yeah, hey - come to Atlanta, everyone!

They used to have a stripper there named Blondie who could crush beer cans between her boobs.

Yep, that's the one I'm talking about! She's still there, too.... !

Go into Google, type "Claremont Lounge Atlanta", and you'll find a page for Blondie herself !! (Yes, I lived in Atlanta once, too.)

Is that work safe?

Yeah, no "nudie" stuff. You should be OK.

Oooer! Perhaps its time to drag the conversation back to cycling. Especially as I don't seem to have any of the above mentioned "features" on my commute ride. Mind you, some of the Oxford colleges are distinctly wierd.

Its hot and humid at the moment but I still managed a good ride into work, although I cancelled the computer again by accident just before I stopped....

Cheers

Ed

Today's commute was in the sun, and it was fun. I only encountered about 15 cars on the way to work, and about 50 on the way back. At one point, going over Highway 26 in Beaverton, I had to take the lanes big time. The road becomes 4 lanes, and the bike lane is on the outside of the inside lane (it's a turn lane onto the Highway 26 freeway). I routinely go over 3 lanes, and take the left side of the second lane from the inside. That way, I'm in the flow of the traffic, and don't have to go over two lanes to get into the left turn lane.

Well, I went down to the stop light at the left turn, and stopped on red. I was standing there, waiting when the fellow in a truck beside me (who would go straight) rolled down the window. I was expecting to get blasted for taking the inside lane, when all that happened is he asked me directions to a motel. I asked for the address, he said it was on Cornell Road, and I told him to continue straight ahead. The light had turned, and the car behind me waited patiently while we talked a few seconds, then he and I started out.

I cannot tell you how relieved I was that there was no confrontation, simply two people talking to each other. I guess the bicycle makes me much more available to all kinds of people. It's good to see this kind to be reminded that the great majority of people are of a kind heart on the road.

John

Another hot one - lovely on the down hill stretches, okay on the flat, but murder on the up hills.

Richard

Wow its hot!

.... At least for the UK. last night it was 30 degrees (86 F) and really humid. A little cooler this morning but it is working its way back up, and is really sticky. I really should not do this, but I find myself wishing for a big rainstorm to ride in. The problem is that I have a pathalogical inability to take it easy.
Managed 18.5 mph average this morning, despite an unusual number of stops for pedestrian crossings and traffic. Now trying to cool off!

Cheers,

Ed

Well, today I encountered a police chase as I slogged my way up a totally unnecessary hill. Now that was interesting. Evidently the cops got the guy a little way down the road, but I didn't hang around long enough to find out what was going on.

My rides to and from work yesterday were uneventful overall. I tried to cut about 5 minutes off my 1h15m ride (20 miles) in to work and actually cut 7. This takes a lot more effort and some luck with red lights.

My ride home was unusual only in that I was really tired (from the morning sprint but also from the activities over the weekend). I went a little slower than normal as a result. It was a nice ride because there's one stretch of road I take that, if you avoid the red lights, gives you about 7 miles of straight "cooking" at 20+MPH. You really get into a groove with this and I found my mind really wandering ... not unsafely or anything, but just wandering. This happens a lot during bike-commutes; the difference here was the extent of this segment.

What a day!:eek: :eek: :eek:

I started out by adjusting my shifters...the cable for the rear derailleur has stretched. I fiddled with it until it SEEMED like the gears all shifted as they were supposed to. The I took it to my LBS to have those stupid clanking pedals replaced. My LBS had just moved--they were still in the process of moving in--to a place way across town.:cry: But they got my pedals replaced, and the mechanic also adjusted my brakes and stuff for free. :)

I got home just in time to commute, taking the long way. It was 90 degrees, and I had a major headwind, and had to keep stopping to fiddle with derailleur adjustments :crash: but got to work in time for a quick meal and change.

When it was time to go home, it was still hot...and everything had gone black. There was thunder and lightening. Jim and Dan, the brothers who clean the library (and do all the city's maintenance work) offered me a ride home. But I decided to race the storm. Made a joke about Miss Gulch biking in the twister in Wizard of Oz. :D But anyway, it didn't look as bad as all that.

The lightening on the way home was spectacular! :) Two miles from Seymour it started raining on me, but it wasn't very heavy--just sprinkling. For once, the wind hadn't changed, and was blowing me home at high speeds. There was a surprising lot of traffic, including an electric company cherry-picker truck, probably out to fix blown-down lines somewhere.I believed I would make it home, no problem.

Then the rain stopped again. And the wind stopped.

And a black cat crossed my path. (Honest!)

Around two miles from home, the rain started again. There was a horrible howl in the trees, and a wind came up that made my tires slide on the pavement. I could see someone coming up behind me in my rear view mirror. Then I heard their tires screech. They were still about a mile away, but I knew it wasn't safe to be on the road with anyone driving fast enough to make a sound like that in this weather! I got off the road....and they whizzed by at about 60mph, so close I could have touched them. I don't think they ever even saw me. Glad I got off the road.

Shortly afterward, I got off the highway onto my back roads. I was about a mile and a quarter from home when the wind increased, and I had to get off the bike--it wasn't safe to be on it any more. The wind blew the rain so hard it hurt when it hit. I was at a field, between two farm houses. The one behind me was a little closer and (thank heaven) was lighted up, so I made a run for it.

They saw me coming and turned on the yard light. They got my bike stowed in their garage, and got me wrapped in a towel sipping tea. (And suggested I should get a stationary bike for exercise and ride the car to work--ha!
:roflmao: ) It turned out that there was a tornado warning in my county! Not to mention the obvious severe thunderstrom warnings.

Anyway, I called my dad to come get me. There were branches down and garbage barrels blowing across the roads. Cool. :p

So, I'm home and fairly wet, and my bike is a mile and a half away in someone else's garage, where I will pick it up tomorrow.

Hope it doesn't get lonely!

I'll say! That was a fun read Inkwolf, but I'm sure, as is usually the case in most adventures, that it wasn't quite so much fun actually participating in it. I tip my helm to your fortitude. That's a cycling fireside tale to remember.

-Rob

Inkwolf, what I'd do to chase a storm, or be chased. No, I have to endure day after day of brilliant sunshine and gorgeous weather with 0% chance of rain. Finally, when the rainy season hits I get steady, boring rain. No thunderstorms and the like.

Your story reminded me of thunderstorms and what a thrill they can be. Glad you're safe. Cool story.

Way to go! Inkwolf! I was going to elaborate about the troubles on the ride home last night, but after reading your amazing adventure, I realise that there is no competition. Glad you made it out of that one OK with a story to share.

My ride home lasted about 4 of the usual 8 miles when my rear tyre suffered a sidewall blowout. Had to reassure some passers by that they were not being shot at! 4 miles walk in stiff cycle shoes with cleats was not ever going to work, but fortunately it was a nice warm evening so the barefoot trek the rest of the way was not so bad. Unsurprisingly, I did get some funny looks....

No time to fix up for this morning so bike number two was pressed into service for the ride. The rain was pouring down all the way, but this is very welcome and it was not cold. Once you're wet, you're wet! No computer on board this bike, but I made good time. Sometimes one becomes a slave to the speedometer....

Cheers all,
Ed

You GO, Inkwolf!

My morning commute was short and unpleasant: when packing the bike I noticed one of my spokes was broken. I then rode the bike straight to my LBS (2kms), locked it there and dropped keys in their keybox (LBS wasn't open yet). I had to take the bus from there, sigh. I'll have to leave my bike there until tomorrow evening - don't know how I'll cope. I'm shaking already! :)

--J

rainy this a.m and with a sea har so I didn't wear my cycling specs. I got a fly in my eye and shortly afterwards, got what I thought was a big drop of water on my head through one of the helmet vents.

When it started to buzz, I ripped my helmet off!! (a wasp!)

When I sat up on the bike as I was removing my helmet, I thought I had felt the back tyre move a bit.

Yup, a puncture.

It took me 20 mins to change the tube, mainly because the puncture was caused by a small piece of wire I could see and feel but couldn't grab! Eventually pushed it through back out the tyre.

thankfully i had rubber gloves in my toolkit as, although I cleaned the bike at the weekend, it is again filthy.

A wasp in the helmet AND a flat. Yuck! That was Monday catching up with you!

Despite my big Mickey Mouse foot, I took my first real ride on the road bike in to work this morning. Road bikes are much faster than anything I ever imagined. That first big descent almost caused me to dirty my trousers in a most unspeakable way. It shaved 5 minutes off of my 6 mile ride. Looking forward to the ride home!

It sucked because I had to drive. I had a loose headset yesterday. Unfortunately, the reason it was loose was a stripped locknut. Since I waited until 9:30 PM to take a look at it, no bike store was open to get a replacement.

Made it in in less than one hour !! This is anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes less than normal (on my 20-mile route). 18MPH average ... red lights killed average so I made up by sprinting between them to keep up the pace.

This afternoon I plan on doing some hill climbs on way home.

Then I'm away for a week and change vacationing. No work and, therefore, no bike-commuting though I hope to do some serious biking in Hawaii.

Way to go, Andy! (Ooooh, Hawaii--I'm jealous!)

Today my biking shoes were still wet, so I wore tennies. Not too comfortable with the new pedals (soft soles and metal teeth) but I appreciated how much sturdier the new ones felt when I stood up on them.

It was warm and a bit muggy. Had a nice, pleasant, uneventful ride today. :)

And enjoyed telling the story of yesterday to my coworkers. :D

Hawaii bound !!! Yee haa !!! Leaving tomorrow a.m.

I didn't ride home. I wussed and got a lift. Heck, I'm on vacation, after all. This also means vacation from bike-commuting !!! Besides, I had too much going on.

Well, today is my last commute day for a couple of weeks - I'm off to sunny California to spend some time with my fiancee. We have plans to tour (by car) in the northern part of the state, up through Napa and on, which is new country to me. Luckily I have another bike which we can take with us, so it will be possible to do some rides.
The bike is fun - one of those old Schwinn 10 speed "racers", which is what we always used to call them before they were re-named road bikes.... My nearest and dearest found it in a junk store for $20 I'm guessing the bike is late seventies/early eighties - with those brake "safety" levers just for good measure! I remember as a kid in the 70's that other lads would saw these off a brand new bike because they were useless, and because they made your bike look uncool!

Unfortunately the original fork was bent, suggesting a minor collision, but I found a cheap replacement at a LBS. The rest of the bike needed a strip down, as the (obviously) original grease had set hard in the hubs/headset/bottom bracket. There was no sign of any serious wear, so all the original parts went back together just fine. At some stage the old wheels or at least the steel rims must go, as they give very uneven braking :eek:

Anyhow, see you all when I get back,

Good riding,

Ed

My non-vehicle-owning roommate finally broke down and rode a bike with me to work. After his brutally hot and long public transit experiences this month, he conceded to a 20 minute bike ride instead.
I gave him some riding pointers, but he insisted that HIS methods of riding and energy conservation were superior and that 'he just doesn't ride like that'. I kept a slow & steady pace, but he was wobbling around, sweaty & out of breath at about mile 4. He did make it though. Finally, he confessed that it must have been the BIKE that caused his mid-ride malaise.